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£ 215 Manhood and Intelligence of North Carolina Should Stand 

for Truth and Justice 

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Truth and Justice for the 
History of North Carolina 



1 he Mecklenburg Resolves of 
May 31, 1775, vs. The 
"Mecklenburg Declara- 
tion of May 20, 1 775" 




The Discovery of Contemporaneous Documents 
Corrects Errors of Memory. 

The Testimony of the Ancient Witnesses Sustains 
the 31st. 

No Meeting Held in Charlotte, Mecklenburg 
County, N. C.,on May 20, 1775. 

The Legend on the State Flag an Historical Error. 

The Date on the State Seal a Glaring Mistake. 

The Resolves of May 31, 1775, Authentic. 



Greensboro, N. C: 
-CHARLES L. VAN NOPPEN, Publisher 



HISTORICAL FACTS 
In 1819 there was published in the Raleigh 

Register a narrative of proceedings in Meck- 
lenburg containing Resolutions declaring In- 
dependence. The original record of these 
proceedings had been in the possession of' 
John McKnitt Alexander. His house was 
burned in April, 1S00, and he subsequently 
prepared this Narrative from memory. He 
sent a copy of it in September. 1800. to Gen. 
Wm. R. Davie with the following certificate 
attached : 

"It may be worthy of notice here to observe that 
the foregoing statement, though fundamentally 
correct, yet may not literally correspond with the 
original record of the transactions of the said dele- 
gation and court of inquiry, as all those records 
and papers were burned, with the house, on April 6, 
1800; but previous to that time of 1800, a full copy 
of said records, at the request of Dr. Hugh William- 
son, then of New York, but formerly a representa- 
tive in Congress from this state, was forwarded to 
him by Colonel William Polk, in order that those 
early transactions might fill their proper plac; in a 
history of this state then writing by said Dr. Wil- 
liams isic) in New York. 

"Certified to the best of my recollection and belief 
this 3d day of September, 1800, by 

"J. McK. Alexander, 
'Mecklenburg County, N. C." 

The paper Colonel Alexander sent to Gen- 
eral Davie was the only copy of his Narrative, 
written in 1S00. that he ever let pass out of 
his possession, as far as known ; and he care- 
fully appended his certificate that, as it was 
written from memory, it might not "literally 
correspond" with the record. 

In 1817 he died. Two years after his death 
his son, upon request, made a copy of his 
Narrative and sent it to Hon. William David- 
son in Washington City. It was this copy 
which was printed in the Raleigh "Register 
on April 30, 1819. 

Between 1819 and 1830 other old men wrote 
letters and statements touching the same 
matter. From their statements it appeared 
that some time in May, 177r>. there was issued 
an order for the election of two delegates (or 



committeemen) from each militia district in 
Mecklenburg ; the election was hefd ; the 
delegates met; the meeting continued two 
days ; resolves declaring independence were 
adopted; Colonel Polk proclaimed them to a 
great meeting of citizens, one-half of the 
county being present. Captain Jack took 
them to Philadelphia. 

In his Narrative Col. John McKnitt Alex- 
ander said that the election was called 
by Abraham Alexander; the s other witness 
corrected him and said Col. Thomas Polk 
called it. 

Colonel Alexander said that the news of 
the battle of Lexington arrived while the 
meeting was in progress. Gen. Joseph Gra- 
ham said : "Perhaps half the men in the 
county attended. The news of the battle of 
Lexington, April 19th preceding, had arrived. 
There appeared among the people much ex- 
citement." 

Nearly all the witnesses describe the great 
public meeting, and the reading of the "decla- 
ration" to the great crowd by Colonel Polk. 
Colonel Alexander did not mention any pub- 
lic meeting and he did not mention that 
Colonel Polk proclaimed independence. 

That Colonel Alexander's memory was de- 
fective is apparent. 

In his Narrative Colonel Alexander stated 
that the meeting was May 19-20. Some of 
the witnesses, forty to fifty years later, prob- 
ably w T ith the Narrative before them, said 
they were present at the meeting on May 20. 
Others merely said the meeting was in May. 

Colonel Alexander set forth in his Narra- 
tive the resolutions which he said were 
adopted. A copy of his rough notes, made 
in 1800 when he was preparing his Narrative 
(copyist's copy), is preserved. This copy 
ehows that those resolutions were constructed 
and built up by him in 1800 and were not 
copied from any original. They were so 
similarrTTi some respects, to the fourth of 
July document that many persons at once 
3 



accused Jefferson of having copied from 
thein in writing the National Declaration. 

They have since become known as "The 
Declaration of May 20, 1775." 

They may be summarized as follows (for 
this "Declaration" in full see Ashe's "His- 
tory of North Carolina," I, 440) : 

Section 1. Declares that "whosoever . . . 
abetted or . . . countenanced the unchar- 
tered and dangerous invasion of our rights 
... is an enemy to this country, . . . 
and to the inherent and inalienable rights 
of man." 

Sec. 2. Dissolves the "political Bands" that 
have connected Mecklenburg county with the 
mother country and absolves its citizens 
"from all allegiance to the British Crown." 
. Sec. 3. Declares them "a free and inde- 
pendent people, are and of right ought to be 
a sovereign and self-governing Association, 
under . . . the General Government of the 
Congress." Pledges "our mutual cooperation, 
our lives, our fortunes and our most sacred 
honor." 

Sec. 4. Adopts "as a rule of life, all, each 
and every of our former laws ;" excludes 
Great Britain from all "rights, privileges, 
immunities or authority therein." 

Sec. 5. Reinstates military officers in their 
former commands ; makes each member of 
the delegation then present . a justice of the 
peace in the character of a "committeeman." 

While the witnesses in general terms sus- 
tained the main proposition that in May, 
1775, Mecklenburg declared independence, 
only one said anything about the wording of 
the resolutions. One witness in 1830 said : 
"The subcommittee appointed to draft the 
resolutions returned, and Dr. Ephraim Bre- 
vard read their report, as near as I can recol- 
lect, in the very words we have since seen 
them several times in print." Rev. Hum- 
phrey Hunter, who wrote a sketch of his own 
life in 1825, incorporated into it the resolu- 



tions just as printed in the Narrative in 
1819. 

The Case for May 20th, 1775. 

The Declaration of May 20th then rests on 
the memory of Colonel Alexander, writing 
twenty-fire years after the event : with his 
rough notes showing that the resolutions were 
huilt up in 1800; with his memory shown to 
have been defective; with the language bear- 
ing traces of July 4th, and he himself certi- 
fying thaj: his Narrative "though funda- 
mentally correct, yet may not literally corre- 
spond with the original record." And he 
never in his life time gave this Narrative 
out for publication. 

The only confirmatory reference to the 
language was by a witness who said that as 
near as he could recollect these were the 
very words he had heard read, — once in a 
public meeting, fifty-five years before, and 
amid great popular excitement, — and by Dr. 
Hunter, who incorporated them into his auto- 
biography written in 1825. 

But in 1830 and for years afterwards there 
was no conflicting testimony. There was 
• nothing to the contrary. The people of that 
generation, therefore, gave full credence to 
the Narrative, corrected in some particulars 
by the statements of the other witnesses. 

And so the matter rested until 1817, when 
documentary evidence to the contrary was 
discovered. 

The Case fob May 31st, 1775. 

In 1817 there was discovered a Charleston 
newspaper, dated June 13, 1775, containing 
the following Resolves (for the full text of 
the Resolves of May 31st see Ashe's "History 
of North Carolina," I, 450-2) : 

"Charlotte town, Mecklenburg County, 

May 31. 
"This day the Committee met and passed 
the following Resolves :" . 
5 



Tne Preamble recites that as the colonies 
are declared by Parliament to be in a state 
of rebellion all laws and commissions con- 
firmed by, or derived from, the authority of 
the King or Parliament are annulled and 
vacated, and the former civil constitution of 
these colonies for the present wholly sus- 
pended. To provide for this emergency the 
following Resolves were passed : 

1. "That all commissions, civil and mili- 
tary, heretofore granted by the Crown, to be 
exercised in these colonies, are null and void, 
and the constitution of each particular colony 
wholly suspended." 

2. "That the Provincial Congress of each 
province, under the direction of the great 
Continental Congress, is invested with all 
legislative and executive powers within their 
respective provinces ; and that no other legis- 
lative or executive power, does, or can exist, 
at this time in any of these colonies." 

3. "As all former laws are now suspended 
in this province and the Congress has not 
yet provided others, we judge it necessary 
... to form certain rules and regulations 
for the internal government of this county 
until laws shall be provided for us by the 
Congress." 

4. Inhabitants to choose military officers 
"who shall hold 'and exercise their several 
powers by virtue of this choice, and inde- 
pendent of Great Britain and former consti- 
tution of this province." 

5. Appoints two free holders as justices ; 
powers defined ; appeal to convention of se- 
lect men of the county. 

6. These select men (justices) to choose 
two constables as assistants. 

7. Directs the issue of warrants. 

8. Directs the meeting of the Convention 
of select men, matters of over 40 s., appeals 
and felony. 

9. Defines duties of clerk of the select 
men. 

10 and 11. On absconding debtors. 
6 



12. On the collection of quit reuts, public 
and county taxes. 

13. On the accountability of the Committee 
for moneys. 

14. On length of term of offices. 

15. Committee to sustain damages to its 
officers. 

16. The person hereafter receiving a com- 
mission from the Crown or attempting to ex- 
ercise one already received "shall be deemed 
an enemy to his country," to be arrested and 
tried by Committee. 

17. Persons refusing obedience "equally 
criminal and liable to the same punishment." 

18. "That these Resolves be in full force 
and virtue, until instructions from the gen- 
eral Congress of this province, regulating the 
jurisprudence of this province, shall provide 
otherwise, or the legislative body of Great 
Britain resign its unjust and arbitrary pre- 
tensions with respect to America." 

19. The military companies to provide arms 
and accoutrements and "hold themselves in 
constant readiness to execute the commands 
and directions of the provincial Congress and 
of this Committee." 

20. "That this Committee do appoint Colo- 
nel Thomas Polk and Doctor Joseph Kennedy, 
to purchase 300 lb. of powder, 600 It), of lead, 
and 1000 Hints, and deposit the same in some 
safe place hereafter to be appointed by the 
Committee." 

"Signed by order of the Committee, 

"Eph. Brevard, 
"Clerk of the Committee." 

This official statement of the action of the 
people of Mecklenburg was 

Printed in the South Carolina Gazette and 
Country Journal (Charleston), June 13, 1775, 
discovered -in 1847. 

Printed in the North Carolina Gazette 
(Newbern), June 16, 1775, discovered in 
1906. - 

Printed in the Cape Fear Mercury (Wil- 
7 



mington), June 23, 1775, contemporaneous 
reference. 

Printed in part by other American news- 
papers during the summer of 1775. 

Denounced to the home government by 
Governor Wright, of Georgia, in June, 1775. 

Denounced to the home government by 
Gov. Josiah Martin in his despatch No. 34, 
dated June 30, 1775. In this despatch was 
enclosed a newspaper copy of the Resolves. 

Manuscript copy sent to the home govern- 
ment by Governor Martin in the duplicate to 
his despatch No. 34, dated June 30, 1775, first 
published in 1907 (see Hoyt, "The Mecklen- 
burg Declaration of Independence"). 

Protested against by the loyal Germans of 
Mecklenburg in June, 1775. 

Carried to Philadelphia in June, 1775, by 
Captain Jack. 

Mentioned by the Moravian archivist about 
1783. 

And while foes denounced the action of the 
Meek 1 en burgers and these Resolves of May 
31st, friends extolled it and said it exceeded 
anything done by any other committee. The 
contemporaneous records, discovered in 
1847 and since, show that the Resolves of 
May 31st shocked the Tories* and won ap- 
plause from the Patriots. But never a word 
was uttered by any one about any proceed- 
ings of May 20th, or about any other resolu- 
tions than those printed as being adopted on 
May olst. Against this overwhelming con- 
temporaneous evidence we have the defective 
memory of one witness writing twenty-five 
years after the event; of another who said 
that as near as he could remember those 
were the very words he had heard read once 
at a public meeting, amid great excitement, 
fifty-five years before. Of all of the above 
contemporaneous documentary evidence the 
witnesses had no knowledge nor had any one 
else until many years had passed. It irre- 
sistibly proves that the meeting was on May 
31, 1775. 

S 



But not only does the documentary evi- 
dence prove the 31st, but the evidence of the 
witnesses for the so-called declaration of the 
20th also proves it. An examination of their 
statements shows that the most significant 
facts which were associated in the recollection 
of these men with the passage of the resolu- 
tions which they understood to be a declara- 
tion of independence are peculiar to the Re- 
solves of May 31st. Thus Gen. Joseph Gra- 
ham said that in the meeting a reason given 
for the proposed action was that the colonies 
had been declared in a state of rebellion. 
That very reason is stated in the preamble 
to the Resolves of May 31st. In the same 
way Gen. George Graham, Hutchinson, Clark 
and Robinson, in their joint certificate, Rev. 
Humphrey Hunter and Col. Thomas Polk, 
all mention the organization of the Commit- 
tee of Safety, as provided for in the Resolves 
of May 31st. One witness, John Simeson, 
wrote : "I have conversed with many of my 
old friends and others, and all agree In the 
point, but few can state the particulars. 
. . . Ours [declaration] was toward the 
close of May, 1775. In addition to what I 
have said, the same committee appointed 
three men to secure all the military stores 
for the county's use — Thomas Polk, John 
Phifer, and Joseph Kennedy. I was under 
arms near the head of the line, near Colonel 
Polk, and heard him distinctly read a long 
string of grievances, the declaration and mili- 
tary order above." The military order men- 
tioned by Simeson is the last of the Resolves 
of May 31st. According to Simeson, then, 
Colonel Polk read, at the public meeting, 
when he declared Independence, the Resolves 
of May 31st ; and at the end he read the 20th 
resolution, being the "military order" ap- 
pointing Colonel Polk and Joseph Kennedy 
to secure the military stores. This testi- 
mony is conclusive that Simeson was talk- 
ing about the Resolves of May 31st. 

As Colonel Alexander, when writing his 
9 



Narrative, and General Graham and Jolm 
Siineson and all the other witnesses had in 
mind tne same occasion, being the particular 
time when the delegates elected met and were 
in session two days and adopted resolutions 
of Independence which Colonel Polk read and 
which Captain Jack carried to Philadelphia ; 
and as the evidence of Simeson and others 
show that the occasion was May 30th-31st, 
in accordance with the documents, it is clear 
that the witnesses who mentioned "May 
20th" were in error ; and that Colonel Alex- 
ander, in trying to recall the Resolves in 
1800, got the language wrong, as well as the 
date. Consider the identity of the language 
in the fourth of July declaration and in the 
"Declaration" set forth in Colonel Alexan- 
der's Narrative. Did Jefferson steal the 
thought and rhetoric of the Mecklenburg 
"Declaration" and then lie about it ; or did 
Colonel Alexander in writing his Narrative 
unconsciously remember the words of one 
document while thinking of the other? 

While in the earlier days the claims of 
May 20th received the support of some stu- 
dents and scholars of recognized standing, it 
was before all the documentary facts in the 
case bad been brought out. Perhaps its most 
scholarly defender was Francis L. Hawks, 
but he died long before the discovery of much 
important contemporaneous material on the 
subject. It should be noted that the Twentieth 
can claim among its supporters none of the 
modern school of historical writers, either 
within or without the state. So far as known, 
no historical student of the present day who 
has won for himself a recognized place in 
the world of historical scholarship would 
think of sustaining the Twentieth of May. 
Besides a few dilettantes who have never 
thoroughly examined the literature of the 
subject this date is supported by the Descend- 
ants of the "Signers," who for the sake of 
their own personal and family glory, seek to 
10 



make this date a test of loyalty to North 
Carolina and to Truth. 

The list of those scholars who accept the 
31st of May Resolves, as against the "Decla- 
ration of May 20th," includes : 

Peter Force, collector, archivist and his- 
torian ; 

Jared Sparks, historian and president of 
Harvard ; 

George Bancroft, historian of the United 
States ; 

Benson J. Lossing, historian ; 

Hugh Blair Grigsby, public man and his- 
torian ; 

Lyman C. Draper, collector, archivist and 
historian ; 

Herbert B. Adams, professor in the Johns 
Hopkins University, historian ; 

John H. Hazelton, historian ; 

Wm. F. Poole, librarian ; 

James C. Welling, college president and 
student ; 

Waldo G. Leland, archivist and historian ; 

Worthington C. Ford, archivist and his- 
torian ; 

Alexander S. Salley, Jr., archivist and his- 
torian ; 

William Henry Hoyt, lawyer and student; 

Guy Carleton Lee, historian and lecturer. 

Among North Carolina students it claims : 

David L. Swain, president University of 
North Carolina, historical student; 

Charles Phillips, professor in University of 
North Carolina : 

Thomas Puffin, chief justice; 

Daniel E. Goodloe, economist and historical 
student ; 

David Schenck, lawyer, judge and histori- 
cal student; 

Kemp P. Battle, president of University of 
NortbLCarxdina and professor of history ; 

Paul B. Means, lawyer and historical stu- 
dent; 

11 



John S. Bassett, professor in Smith Col- 
lege, Massachusetts ; 

J. G. deR. Hamilton, professor of history, 
University of North Carolina ; 

Charles L. Raper, professor in University 
of North Carolina ; 

Stephen B. Weeks, collector and historian ; 

Fred A. Olds, newspaper correspondent and 
historical student ; 

William K. Boyd, professor in Trinity Col- 
lege, North Carolina ; 

R. D. W. Connor, secretary North Caro- 
lina Historical Commission ; 

J. Y. Joyner, superintendent of public in- 
struction of North Carolina ; 

Julius I. Foust, president North Carolina 
State Normal College; 

William E. Dodd, professor in the Univer- 
sity of Chicago ; 

Joseph Blount Cheshire, bishop of the dio- 
cese of North Carolina : 

E. W. Sikes, professor of history. Wake 
Forest College, North Carolina : 

Marshall DeLaucey Haywood, historian; 

Samuel A'Court Ashe, soldier, legislator, 
editor and historian. 

The final clearing up of this matter has 
freed the character of Jefferson from the 
aspersion that he stole the thoughts and 
language of the "Mecklenburg Declaration." 
But North Carolina owes something to her 
own reputation : the error and mistake being 
evident, it should with candor be avowed ; 
and instead of a part of our people cele- 
brating the meaningless 20th of May. THE 
WHOLE STATE SHOULD JOIN IN CELE- 
BRATING THE RESOLVES OF MAY 31ST, 
1775. WHICH ARE EQUIVALENT TO A 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

The Truth should be Acknowledged. 



12 



NORTH CAROLINA 

1584-1783 



THE STORY OF THE OLD 
NORTH STATE IN COLONIAL 
and REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 

Accurately and Graphically Told 



History of North Carolina, by Samuel 
A'Court Ashe ; in two volumes ; Vol. 1, 1584- 
1783. Greensboro : Charles L. Van Noppen, 
Publisher, 1908. 

Octavo, pp. xsiv+724 ; 1 portrait on steel ; 
23 half-tone portraits ; 15 half-tone facsimiles 
and other illustrations ; 2 new maps ; 5 other 
maps. 



THIS WORK WAS AWARDED THE PATTERSON 
MEMORIAL CUP IN 1908. 



The North Carolina Library Association at 
the Greensboro meeting, November, 1908, en- 
dorsed the work as follows : 

Resolved, That the North Carolina Library 
Association neartily commends the new nar- 
rative History of North Carolina by Capt. S. 
A. Ashe, of which Volume 1 has been recently 
published by Charles L. Van Noppen, of 
Greensboro, for its general accuracy and ex- 
cellence and for the beauty of its typographi- 
cal appearance. 



Send for Specimen Pages and Other Press Notice* 
13 



OPINIONS OF SCHOLARS. 

"A very scholarly work." — F. P. Venable, 
Pres. U. N. C. 

"Too much cannot he said in praise of his 
method and the excellence of his writing." — 
Neyjs and Courier, Charleston. 

"Nothing better, we think, has been done 
for any State — nothing so good for our own." 
— Prof. W. C. Smith (State Normal). 

"Captain Ashe has rendered the State a 
priceless service." — Dr. Charles Lee Smith, 
Historical Scholar and College President. 

"No previous history of the State is com- 
parable with this in size, or in the manner in 
which the facts are presented." — The Obser- 
ver, Charlotte. 

"The people of North Carolina have at last 
a history of their State of which they may 
justly feel proud." — A. M. Waddell, in The 
Star, Wilmington. 

"For the first time North Carolina has its 
interesting and important history presented 
in a thoroughly adequate manner and in a 
proper prospective." — The Sun, Baltimore. 

"Ashe's 'History of North Carolina' in ac- 
curacy, completeness and general reliability, 
easily takes precedence over any other work 
covering the same subject." — R. D. W. Con- 
nor, Sec. of the N. C. Historical Commission. 

"It certainly has no equal among the his- 
tories of North Carolina, and I do not know 
of a history of any other State which sur- 
passes it in fullness, accuracy and literary 
style." — Marshall DeLancet Haywood. His- 
torian. 

"The style is clear, the generalizations 
scholarly, the citation of authorities accurate. 
the maps and illustrations abundant and 
illuminating. ... I shall omit no op- 
portunity to commend it." — Prof. C. Al- 
phonso S*mith, Univ. of Virginia. 

14 



"Ashe's History of North Carolina will re- 
main for many years the accepted story of the 
State's life, for it is written with calm judi- 
cial judgment from large and intimate knowl- 
edge, and in clear scholarly style." — Dr. 
George T. Winston, Ex-Pres. University of 
North Carolina. 

"It is a story of the State by an apprecia- 
tive and patriotic son who is peculiarly quali- 
fied to put it in permanent form, 
and on all its pages there is the stamp of 
fealty and devotion as well as the proof of 
investigation and the love of truth." — News 
ami Observer, Raleigh. 

"Mr. Ashe . . . has written proudly 
of his State, . . . hut he has not al- 
lowed his State pride to warp his judgment 
and betray him into erroneous conclusions, 
. out of the abundance of his accurate 
knowledge he has constructed a comprehensive 
and graphic story." — The Times, New York. 

"In the mass of historical production . . . 
the new 'History of North Carolina.' by 
Mr. Samuel A'Court Ashe, . . . stands 
apart. In scientific method, in impartiality 
of judgment and in sobriety of language, it 
is fully up to all modern requirements, and 
can hold its own with any product of the 
colder North.' — The Sun, New York. 

"Capt. Ashe has given us a fair, interest- 
ing and by far the most complete history of 
the Colonial and Revolutionary period. . . . 
The dark places he has, to a surprising de- 
gree, illumined by his patient and thorough 
explorations. . . . The author is calm, 
judicial and fair." — Dr. Kemp P. Battle, 
Emeritus Prof, of History, the Univ. of N. C. 



15 




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